Sula Iron & Gold PLC (LON:SULA) saw its shares gain after it released the first results from batch 2 of its recently completed 3,783 metre, 14 hole drill program across Sanama Hill, Eastern Target, Southern Target and the Kuwait artisanal anomaly on its Ferensola gold project in Sierra Leone.
Among the highlights were findings of 5.2 grams per tonne over 1.22 metres from the first hole drilled into the Southern Target.
READ: Sula to recommence drilling at the Ferensola gold project in Sierra Leone
The Southern Target is a new discovery area at Ferensola, drilled by Sula for the first time, and lies adjacent to the Eastern Target and around 2 kilometres south of Sanama Hill, where assay results have already returned high-grade gold.
"With this hole, we have demonstrated that gold mineralisation is not restricted to Sanama Hill and it supports our belief, based on our extensive geophysical work, and the intense artisanal activity in numerous sites across the licence, that there are multiple gold deposits across our Ferensola licence area,” said Roger Murphy, chief executive of Sula.
“It is worth noting that the Southern Target is much longer than Sanama, where we already have an Exploration Target of between 800,000 and 1.5 mln ounces.”
In early morning trading, Sula shares were 10.3%, or 0.04p higher at 0.43p.
Analysts at VSA Capital reiterated a 'speculative buy' rating and 1.6p target price on Sula.
In a note to clients, they said: "Although only a single data point at this stage, the result does confirm the exploration potential beyond the existing target at Sanama Hill."
And analysts at broker SPAngel, said: “The initial drill hole result from the Southern target at Ferensola is promising, however there is clearly considerable additional exploration required and we look forward to further results from the recent drilling and to learning of the company’s plans to advance the project.”
-- Updates share price, adds further broker comment --